Chapter Text
It was another miserable night with the Dursleys. Harry was once again locked in his room after a harsh punishment. Harry had done all the chores they had demanded of him, and he still got hit and kicked. Uncle Vernon had come home in an abysmal mood; he had had a terrible day at work. He wasn’t selling as many drills as he wanted. As soon as Harry had finished cooking dinner, Uncle Vernon punched Harry in the stomach and hit him until he fell to the floor, then kicked him a few times. He was then dragged up the stairs and roughly thrown into his room. Now, he’s lying on his old mattress, clutching his threadbare blanket.
Harry was already in pain from the beating he had received, but it really wasn’t that bad. He had been through worse. Suddenly, a sharp pain tore through his body. He clenched his teeth to keep from crying out in pain. He didn’t know what was going on; he wasn’t beaten badly enough to hurt like this. He was sure he had at least bruised a couple of ribs, and his torso was covered in bruises, but nothing was broken. Suddenly, his bones began to shift, and he bit his lip until he tasted blood. He squeezed his eyes shut, and soon, the sharp pain stopped.
He looked down at his hands and saw furry black paws instead. Harry turned to look behind him, only to see more black fur, two furry back legs, and a furry tail. He had no idea how, but he was now a wolf or a dog. Wait, he could see just fine in the dark room without his glasses on. That was strange.
His ears picked up the Dursleys' snoring, Dudley being the loudest, of course. He could even hear a dog barking down the street. He knew his hearing was now a lot more sensitive. He was worried about what the Dursleys would do if he couldn’t turn back before they woke up. He stood up and stretched. He was a little sore, but nothing really hurt. Harry realized that he could smell his blood and sweat and everything in the room. He even smelled the casserole he cooked for dinner down in the kitchen.
After pacing the room for a while, Harry transformed back into a human. He decided that he would need to do some research in the library when he returned to Hogwarts. He had four weeks until the train left for Hogwarts. He couldn’t wait to go back and see his friends, but he was also worried about this new ability to turn into a dog/wolf. He still didn’t know if he was a dog or a wolf, and he didn’t know how he was able to turn into a furry animal anyway. He had so many questions, but he didn’t want to tell anyone in case they thought he was a freak.
***
Severus Snape felt a pull in his chest and on his magic. He decided to ignore it for now and go for a run in the forest around his secluded home. Severus shifted into his wolf form, a lean black wolf with long legs and dark eyes. A run in the forest would clear his head. He knew what that pull meant; it was a pull toward his mate. If he was only feeling the pull now, then his mate had just come into his powers. Meaning, he would have just turned 16. He knew his mate would be male because he had always preferred men over women.
Severus knew he’d eventually need to find his mate, but for now, he could run through the forest and forget about the pull. He had a feeling that he knew his mate, that he had met him before. But he wasn’t sure who, at least not until he could get close enough to catch his scent. Severus spent the rest of the night running through the woods around Prince Manor, trying to keep his mind off his mate.